Jackson leads local athletes at state meet

Eastern pole vaulter earns runner-up finish

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, June 06, 2010

Bloomington — Sometimes there is just no substitute for experience.

A pair of highly seeded juniors in Saturday’s IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals found that out the hard way. Eastern senior Kevin Jackson already knew it.

While No. 2 seed Blake Donson of Eastern struggled to make the discus finals and No. 3 seed John Alsup fell shy of his goal of a 10th long jump title for Kokomo, unseeded Jackson — the lone area athlete competing with state experience — cleared a personal-best 15 feet, 9 inches to place second in pole vault.

Jackson and Donson, who wound up sixth after being 10th at one point in the finals, helped the Comets finish 18th as a team with 12 points. Kokomo tied for 46th. Ben Davis won the state championship with 47 over Lawrence Central (44) and Bloomington South (33).

“It does make a difference,” said Eastern coach Paul Nicholson. “Like Blake Donson in the discus. He really felt he was doing fine until the first time he stepped in the ring he realized, ‘I’m at the state track meet.’

“But he gathered himself and did a great job. I’m really proud of the way he handled it.”

Jackson, who finished 12th in the state a year ago, was clean on his attempts through 15-3 and missed just once at 15-6 before soaring comfortably over 15-9. It was the best effort in the area since Kyle Gann of Western cleared 15-9 in 2007. The two will be teammates next season at the University of Louisville.

“Kevin has trained meticulously throughout these last few weeks. Nobody is prouder of him than I am,” Nicholson said. “I’ve watched him come from being a seventh-grader who was clearing 7-6 and he patiently worked his way up through these heights.”

Of course, one of Jackson’s ultimate goals was 16-1, the Eastern and Kokomo Tribune area all-time record held by Jeremy Ashcraft, the 1994 state champion. Saturday’s winner at 16 feet was Bloomington South’s Drew Volz, whose father, Dave, won back-to-back titles in 1979 and 1980. Jackson missed all three attempts at that height.

“It was looking good until 16 feet. Drew Volz is a better vaulter. I have to hand it to him,” Jackson admitted. “It’s nice to PR at state. I’m not going to be disappointed with second place.

“It plays mind games with you, especially when I’ve been thinking about Ashcraft’s all-area record all year long. Once I get it I’ll start repping it just like I did 15-0 earlier in the year. It’ll come with time.”

Donson made the finals by four inches, fell to 10th after one round and then threw 169-2 on his next-to-last attempt, all while trying to figure out a tight throwing chute and a quartering headwind.

“I was hugging the line and then it would blow out of the sector,” said Donson, who threw 177-5 at the Kokomo Regional last week. “I’ll come back next year and hopefully do better.

“It’s a lot more nerve-wracking than I thought it would be. I was just glad to be in the finals so that I could prove myself a little bit better.”

Alsup leaped 22 feet, 2 inches on his very first attempt in the trials, and that distance stood throughout the finals for fifth place.

Alsup had to interrupt his finals jumps to run the 200-meter dash trials. He finished 19th in 22.72 seconds.

“Next year I’ll be more prepared,” said Alsup. “I didn’t really know what to expect in the 200 [trial] and come back [to the long jump finals] exhausted. I’ll train that much harder for this.

“It is a big meet. I thought I could do better. I didn’t expect to come in fifth place but luckily I did place and brought back a medal for Kokomo.”

The Wildkats left with not much more than the experience of being here.

Junior Robert Lancaster (15.34) was 18th in the 110-meter high hurdles, sophomore Tony Moses (50.23) was 20th in the 400 meters and senior David Sirmons (51-9 1/2 ) was 21st in shot put.

Junior Adrian Glover was forced to withdraw from the 800 meters due to a hamstring injury. That affected the 4x400 relay team, which did not finish after Michael Clifton ran the leadoff leg.

“I’m disappointed with the 4x400 relay team because they were going to run three legs and then Adrian was going to step off,” said Kokomo coach Tom Byrnes, who was otherwise pleased with the Kats’ effort. “My kids didn’t want to compete.

“I’m happy for John. He competed well in a big-time meet. It’s a lot of experience I hope helps him achieve his goal of a state championship.”

Western’s Trevor Buckalew and Austin Young competed just one night after their graduation but neither placed. Buckalew was 26th in discus with a throw of 132-10. Young was 20th in the 3,200 in 9:44.21.

“It is a big accomplishment just to qualify and come down here to the state meet,” Panthers coach Marvin Boswell said. “What a great thrill for Trevor to be able to finish his high school career and perform at a state track meet as an athlete.

“I thought [Young] ran a really good race for waiting around all day. He went out in good time and kept picking off one person at a time.”